Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Amber

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 10, 2018

Dear Amber,

In December of 2006 I was Christmas shopping in Tyler. On my
way to Best Buy, a big tent in front of the nearby PetSmart full of pups in
need of homes got my attention. I fell for a jet-black shepherd mix labeled
“Sport,” and adopted him on the spot. “Sport” didn’t really suit my boy, and
“Scout” didn’t stick either. By the time Christmas rolled around, he was known
as Shadow.

Shadow turned out to be an amazing big brother to my tiny
border collie puppy, Daisy, who joined the family shortly after he did. She
would nip at his ears or gnaw on his tail and he would just look at me like, are you really going to let her treat me
like this? I’d purchased my first home, out in the sticks, shortly before
taking on Shadow and Daisy in rapid succession. That made me a single father of
two in the middle of nowhere. All of that was great, except for the single
part. The rural setting wasn’t ideal for changing the fact—slim pickin’s.

Just a few months after assembling my family of three, an
opportunity to relocate to a sales office in Dallas presented itself. I
couldn’t pass that up. But a small house on two acres out in Nowhereville cost
about as much as the rent for an aging 400 square foot efficiency in the Big D.
I couldn’t imagine moving into a space that small with two puppies. I didn’t
think the complex would let me keep even one of them at first, so I set out to
re-home my babies.

Daisy has a redemption story all her own. But in March of
2006 you agreed to take Shadow, and for that I am eternally grateful. Also, thank
you for touching base months ago to let me know that he’d recently passed after
a long and happy life under your care. I don’t think circumstances could have
worked out any better for him.